Aberdeen city, 16 years prior
Ansel felt his head spinning as he was carried away like a dirty potato sack by the teenage boy who rescued them.
On the other hand, the little girl was comfortably carried on his arm, her arms intimately wrapped around the older boy's neck.
She was safe, protected, and very comfortable with one of the teen's hands making sure she didn't get hit by stray twigs.
Ansel in contrast was very different. There was even an occasional branch that hit his face.
The distinction was very stark.
"Garan…" he could hear the girl sob. "Are you okay?" She asked, a milky voice filled with worry.
Ansel couldn't see the teen's reaction though as his line of sight was on the ground the whole time.
As they ran, the boy responded with a simple "Hmm." And then they enter the denser forest and his pace quickened so they could get away from the kidnappers as soon as possible.
Ansel was already feeling nauseous from the previous pace, but now he got even dizzier as the boy ran quickly across the woods.
The surroundings were shaking so much, it was like his brain was jiggling.
Eventually, he couldn't handle it anymore and… he lost consciousness.
When he woke up, he saw the worried faces of his parents. Immediately, all the wrongs of the world popped like a balloon.
"Mom… dad…" he squeaked, a pool of tears quickly lining up his eyes.
All the tension and suffering seemed to overflow with his tears and he started sobbing.
Mother looked heartbroken and immediately approached him, placing him in her warm embrace.
He was not good with words and he didn't like using them, so he expressed his sadness with sobs.
It took him a while to calm down and he finally looked around, little eyebrows furrowing when he wasn't able to see what he was expecting to see.
Mother held back a smile. "Are you looking for your new friends?"
Mother suppressed a smile and turned to Father. His father gave a knowing smile in return and went out the door.
Several minutes later, he re-entered with two beautiful children on each side. There was the girl from before even cuter all cleaned up and with her hair tied in twin pigtails.
Just looking at her comforted him very much.
The teen was even scarier (and cooler) although he was covered with a lot of bandages all over his body. He couldn't tell at all he was injured by how he carried both of them.
Inexplicably, he looked cooler in Ansel's eyes.
Anyway, the little redhead's eyes were wide as he stared at them, feeling extremely elated to see them.
He felt his mother pat his small head."This is your new sister and brother." She said, smiling, and Ansel's green eyes went wide in shock.
Mother laughed and gently pinched his cheek, guiding him off the bed and pulling him closer to the two older kids.
"Don't you want to greet them?"
"ALTHEAAA!!!" He yelled but, unfortunately, there were too many monsters between them. It was those ugly blue frogs as tall as his waist that were in the dozens, the metaphorical gorges between him and Althea.
With renewed energy, he went ahead and swung his sword, using his skills as much as he could.
[Killed Juju Frog (Lvl 2): +50 Experience, +50 Copper!]
[Killed Juju Frog (Lvl 1): +30 Experience, +30 Copper!]
[Killed Juju Frog (Lvl 1): +30 Experience, +30 Copper!]
[Killed Juju Frog (Lvl 2): +50 Experience, +50 Copper!]
[Killed Juju Frog (Lvl 1): +30 Experience, +30 Copper!]
As he killed he could see himself getting closer and closer to her, and he had all but ignored his spirit.
He started another bout of killing spree, gathering enough experience and finally upgrading.
[Congratulations on reaching Level 4!]
[Learned! Piercing Strike (E). Consumes -5 Mana!]
Physical Potential: S
Active: Stab (E), Piercing Strike (E)
Elemental Affinity: Fire
Current Status: Normal ]
This upgrade increased his efficiency effectively and he slowly killed his way to get closer to Althea, the team he was with closely following the path he made, similarly killing their way through.
Soon they were only a couple of meters away and he noticed that the people Althea brought with her were extremely strong. Each one seemed to be at least his level before upgrading.
Those who were focused on close-ranged fights were fast and valiant, while those with arrows were quite accurate in the hits. They were also protected by swords and spearmen and they could hit away without worry.
There were several hundreds of monsters they had to work with, but this team didn't look like they would ever be in danger.
It was amazing and his heart couldn't help but lift up in awe and relief.
He was particularly impressed with those two tanned men with similar looks.
One had a spear and the other had a sword. Their teamwork was impeccable. They didn't even have to turn around to see how the other dealt with the enemy, yet they could somehow add to the attack effectively.
For instance, one would slash a few Level 1 Gnomos along his feet, and the other would stab the ones behind with his spear. , they created a vacuum of safety around them.
They were very handsome and cool, moving with smooth movements, though their techniques seemed different from those of the veterans he had seen.
Speaking of Veterans, he couldn't help but look at the dashing short-haired man similarly waving his sword. Unlike most though, he had a wooden shield with him, which he used to push enemies just before beheading them.
Some old buried memory as a young teen being thrown in obstacle course after obstacle course came to mind and, unconsciously, his eye twitched.